1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a system and method for protecting marine life from contaminated pilings, and, more particularly, to a marine aquaculture recovery system that contains and decontaminates pilings and provides a habitat to facilitate the recovery of marine aquaculture in the contaminated area.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pilings and similar support structures, such as fence posts, telephone poles, and light poles, are frequently treated with a preservative to resist corrosion and decay when placed in the soil. In the past, creosote has been one preservative used to protect wood. It has been discovered that creosote and other preservatives can be damaging to the environment and harmful to nearby life.
More particularly, creosote can seep into the soil surrounding the posts and pilings and pollute the soil, causing damage to plants growing nearby and endangering animal and human life, as well as endangering aquatic life in the case of pilings. For example, barnacles, mussels, and similar aquatic life can attach themselves to creosote-treated pilings, becoming themselves contaminated. Examples of such aquatic life include pile worm, Nereis procera, an active predator that inhabits pilings, mussel beds, eel grass flats, plumed tube worm, Magalomma vesiculatum, oius tubes, white plumed anenome, Metridium senile, which attaches to rocks and pilings at the lowest intertidal level to very deep water, scarlet anenome, Tealia lofotensis, which attaches to rocks or pilings at low tides in semi-protected areas, wood bryozoan, Bugula neritina, which is found attached to wood pilings, edible mussel, blue and bay mussel Mytilus edulis, dead man's fingers, Polymastis pachymastia, which is a sponge that attaches to rocks or pilings, warty sea squirt, Pyuria haustor and a variety of algae that also attach to pilings. This marine life feeding on contaminated material become contaminated and will in turn spread the contamination to other marine life. Hence, there is a need to protect all forms of life from aging posts and pilings and to provide a system that enhances the recovery of animal and plant life in contaminated areas.
While a number of devices have been proposed for enclosing pilings, such devices fail to adequately protect surrounding aquatic life and to promote the recovery and healthy growth of such life.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,181,300, discloses a piling jacket that uses a multi-piece fabric jacket fastened together with a zipper or similar system that is snugly secured against the piling. The jacket provides no space for injecting decontamination material between the jacket and the piling, and the jacket does not cover the top of the piling, upon which birds and other marine and aquatic life can build habitat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,071 discloses a piling encasement system in which molds, having two hemispherical parts, are used to encompass a piling. An annular space between the mold and the piling is filled with concrete that is injected to form a concrete sleeve around the piling. There is no teaching of decontaminating the piling or of providing materials to enhance the growth of aquatic life.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,004 teaches a method and apparatus for protective encapsulation of structural members that is in the form of a tubular jacket installed around a submerged pile. The objective of this patent and the other patents referred to therein is to form a stagnant film or layer of water between the wrapping and the piling to deny marine microorganisms or micro-borers of necessary oxygen, thus causing the death of the marine microorganism or marine borer and preserving the life of the piling. An aperture is formed in a tubular jacket around the piling through which foam is injected to fill the annular space therebetween. The foam is allowed to set, which provides life extending benefit to the piling. Here, the goal is to destroy marine life in order to preserve the life of the piling.